AC SERVICE AND REPAIR

photo above: The Eiffel Tower was a ship that ran aground at Cold Knap Point in Barry in South Wales in 1894. Owned by the Dunedin Steamship Company of Leith, and skippered by a Captain Campbell, the Eiffel Tower ran aground in thick fog. She was refloated at high tide the same day and towed to Barry Dock for repair.

A number of ships have run aground or sunk in the Bristol Channel, a stretch of water between southern Wales and Somerset. Cardiff, Barry and Penarth were once the largest coal exporters in the world and the channel received significant traffic at the beginning of the twentieth century during exportation.

In 1856 there were 187 maritime accidents in the Bristol Channel.

On 20 December 1862 the brigantine Champion, of Liverpool, returning home from New Brunswick, Canada, with a cargo of timber, was driven off course and into the Bristol Channel by a strong gale. She went aground on the Scarweather Sands, breaking her mainmast. Her distress signal flags were seen from the mainland and the Porthcawl lifeboat went to her assistance, saving her nine crew and one passenger.

In January 1863 the Russian barque Heinrich Sorensen, bound from Bordeaux to Cardiff in ballast, was caught in a great storm and driven ashore on Breaksea Point, near Barry. The ship's boat had been lost and the crew of twelve decided to try to swim or wade ashore. William John of Limpert Farm and three other local men went into the dangerous seas and managed to assist all of the crew to safety. This was not the first time that William John had helped to save life and he was awarded the RNLI silver medal for his bravery.

On 3 December 1863 the Penarth lifeboat, George Gay, made her first successful attempt at rescue when the full rigged Jupiter, of London, and the barque Ellings, collided in Penarth Roads in a heavy N.W.gale. The Jupiter's crew of 8 jumped into the lifeboat as she pulled alongside the ship but were persuaded to return to the ship to try to save her, which, after two hours was accomplished sufficiently for her to find safety.

On the night of 18 November 1864 the Penarth lifeboat, George Gay, was towed by the paddle tug Marquis to the English and Welsh Grounds, near the mouth of the river Usk where the full rigged ship Far West, of Newport, with 22 crew, on her voyage from Chile via Queenstown, Ireland, to Newport, had run aground after losing her anchors when her hawsers and windlass broke in a S.W.gale off Lundy and she drifted up Channel. Some of the lifeboatmen were put aboard and she was connected to three tugs, the Marquis, Iron Duke and Pilot. Her anchors were recovered and she was re-floated and towed to Bristol for repair.

In November 1865 the Portuguese barque Argo was abandoned by her crew near the Tusker Rocks off Porthcawl. The crew survived and the barque was saved by the Porthcawl lifeboat crew.

On 2 January 1866 the barque Jacques, of St.Malo, and the ship Industrie, of Hamburg, came into contact in a heavy gale, and the Penarth lifeboat, now renamed from George Gale to Baroness Windsor, had to disentangle them.

On 10 January 1866 the Hannah Moore of 1129 tons on a voyage from Chile to Queenstown, Ireland was blown off course and took shelter in Lundy Roads. However her sails were torn by the wind and she dragged her anchor. The next morning the crew were seen clinging to the rigging. Two Bideford men, Thomas Saunders and Samuel Jarmon took a punt out in an attempt to get a line to the ship, but in twenty minutes the ship had been lifted onto Rat Island off Lundy and broken up. Only six crew managed to keep from being washed overboard from a part of the wreck. These were eventually rescued by the punt. The other 19 crew were drowned.

On 23 March 1866 the brig Claudia, of Belfast, went onto Cardiff Sands in a strong gale and sprang a leak, which caused her hold to rapidly fill with water, despite the strenuous pumping of her crew. Lifeboatmen from the Penarth lifeboat, Baroness Windsor, went aboard to help and she was eventually freed her and took her to a safe place on Cardiff East Mudflats.

On the same day, 23 March 1866, the Whitby brig Vesta foundered in Swansea Bay. The crew of seven took to the rigging and were saved by the Mumbles lifeboat (Martha and Anne).

On 29 March 1866 the wooden paddle steamer Queen (Captain Granville Spray) left Ilfracombe at 10.30 pm. In a thick fog the little paddler struck the Tings Rocks off Hartland Point, Devon. However, the master managed to get her off the rocks and made back towards Ilfracombe. She was badly holed, though, and was shipping water rapidly, and, as a result, the master ran her intentionally onto the beach at Clovelly. The 37 passengers on bord and the crew were ferried ashore and over the next two days the cargo was removed. Very soon after the cargo had been removed the boat broke her back and was finally wrecked. The captain, who was the son of the previous captain, John Spray, was subsequently found guilty of neglecting to

The Supply Pipe with water turned on...and a nice spray from a cracked elbow joint. History Maker Homes (www.historymaker.com) has supposedly repaired this twice. Our house is less than 4 years old, and has had other mechanical quality defects. You don't even want to know about our A/C System. Stay away from this builder.